T.blondi - Possible blockage?

[synyster]

Poop is good! Maybe the olive oil was beneficial.

Some long-haired domestic mammals will develop fecal impactions, usually after a bout with diarrhea, where the feces and hair forms a plug that prevents defecation. Left untreated, it can lead to the animals demise. Could a tarantula develop something similar that could also obstruct the spinnerets?

Yeah it is good! But you should see the mess it has made on the abdomen... Any recommendations on how to get it off now? I took her out of the tank for the first time in years today to try and wipe it off with no success whatsoever....

And good question concerning the obstruction. I think that will probably depend also on the spiders diet.

 

[Formerphobe]

recommendations on how to get it off

On another thread, Bill S suggested putting the T in a dry icu on dry tissues (or paper towel?) to see if any of the oil would wick off. Not sure you'd want to do that with a blondi, at least not for too long. Sorry, not much help.

 

[synyster]

On another thread, Bill S suggested putting the T in a dry icu on dry tissues (or paper towel?) to see if any of the oil would wick off. Not sure you'd want to do that with a blondi, at least not for too long. Sorry, not much help.

Could be a consideration. Theraphosa's can take up to 2-3 months of dry environment so I guess leaving her one night in a dry towl ICU won't hurt. For sure she will be under constant supervision though. But I think it's worth a try. What started off with a small dab of olive oil is now completely across the top of her abdomen. She has been trying to clean herself off with her back legs but has been doing more damage than anything else...

I'll try this tonight and post results tomorrow

 

[synyster]

Ok update:

After taking a friends advice, I decided to leave her in her tank. We came to an agreement that so far, even though the oil was a mess, there was no immediate danger attached to it, and moving the spider again would probably just stress it out even more. This probably proved right because the mess has diminished a bit today. What used to be a stain covering ~65% of the top of her abdomen, has dropped to ~45%. this can only mean that everything is slowly coming back to normal.

There is another new concern though. After close examination of her abdomen, I noticed what seem to be small blueish/silver bugs walking around the oil stain. They are hardly visible to the naked eye. I have never had any mite problems with my T's and have not added any isopods or whatever living thing apart from crickets and superworms to her tank. They are not baby crickets. If I had some good camera equipment, I would take a close up picture, but I only have a basic 250$ camera and no microscope to examine the bugs either. Anyone have an idea what these could be? There is no mold in the tank even though its at max humidity as I keep it well ventilated.

 

[Fran]

Hmmm, those could be some kind of parasites. The first thin that comes to mind would be mites, but mites have a round whitish appearance. Some of them are fat enough you can see them pretty well with the naked eye...

I think the whole oil thing, although of course it was well meant, it did more "damage" than help .

If you dont see anything moving around the mouth or booklongs, I would worry too much. Just try to allow more ventilation, hopefully things would dry up a little bit so they wont spread.


As long as she has a big water dish , you can dry things up a bit for a couple of weeks, she wont die. If she desperately needs humidity, you will se her around the water dish.

 

[synyster]

Hmmm, those could be some kind of parasites. The first thin that comes to mind would be mites, but mites have a round whitish appearance. Some of them are fat enough you can see them pretty well with the naked eye...

I think the whole oil thing, although of course it was well meant, it did more "damage" than help .

If you dont see anything moving around the mouth or booklongs, I would worry too much. Just try to allow more ventilation, hopefully things would dry up a little bit so they wont spread.


As long as she has a big water dish , you can dry things up a bit for a couple of weeks, she wont die. If she desperately needs humidity, you will se her around the water dish.

I totally agree, me too I think that even well intentioned, it did more harm than good and I now do not recommend using this method on Theraphosa's.

I confirm that they are not mites. I have seen pictures of mites and from what I see they are way smaller, tend to not be round but oval shaped, and have a blue/silver color which dosen't fit with any mites i've seen or heard of.

They are not approaching any other part of the body except for what still has an oil mess on it. For this reason, I hope they are mostly "cleaning" her off by consuming the oil. I am keeping a closeful watch on the matter though.

On your advice though, i'll open up ventilation which will probably drop the humidity in the 70's. We'll see what happen's then I guess!

 

[Fran]

Remmember; You can always turn on your Lawn mower

 

[synyster]

Remmember; You can always turn on your Lawn mower

Omg! I'm literally laughing my *** off again hahah!!

Guess i'll be out for the next hour documenting how the grass has been cut!

I'll post a review for sure

 

[Formerphobe]

Is there an update?

 

[PhobeToPhile]

Remmember; You can always turn on your Lawn mower

Last time I checked, this was a tarantula, not a dog or a cat, Fran .

 

[synyster]

Last time I checked, this was a tarantula, not a dog or a cat, Fran .

It's more of an inside joke

Is there an update?

As for now, she seemed to have pooped a couple times so everything seem's to be back on track in that matter.

There is now the oil mess that is problematic. She's always cleaning herself which seem's to just make the stain get bigger and bigger. So I jacked up temperatures to 26.5c and reduced humidity to 70% by opening more ventilation and so far the mess seem's to be stabilized. Now i'm hoping it will sort of dry off in the next two weeks. And there's still that small issue with the little blueish bugs on her abdomen that I can't identify. So in around two weeks I should boost back up humidity to 90-100% and combined with the rised temperatures, i'll hope it triggers a molt so that everything can get back to normal

 

[Jester]

As far as getting the oil off goes, baking soda or corn starch will absorb it, if you can find a way of getting it on and off of her safely. Since it's so humid in there, it's not likely that the mess will just dry up any time soon.

 

[PhobeToPhile]

Being that it's oil, it's unlikey to "dry up" at all-oil repels water, so there likely isn't water present in the first place. Better to wait for a molt or try to wick it up. I'd wait for a molt if I was in the same position.

 

[The Spider Faery]

The silvery colour probably means they're harmless springtails. One way to tell if they're springtails is if you shine a light on them, usually they try and hide under the soil. They're not really round or bolbous or white, but look like little slivers that glint in the light for a second because they tend to move fast. At least I hope they're springtails and nothing harmful to your T.

 

[synyster]

The silvery colour probably means they're harmless springtails. One way to tell if they're springtails is if you shine a light on them, usually they try and hide under the soil. They're not really round or bolbous or white, but look like little slivers that glint in the light for a second because they tend to move fast. At least I hope they're springtails and nothing harmful to your T.

Well actually their so tiny I can hardly see them! I really have to look close and stay put and it seems as if she has little silverish-blue dust particles that move on her abdomen. I sort of got their shape after looking at them through a magnifying glass but even then, I can't say what they actually look like at all. I'm also hoping that it's nothing harmful! but I don't think so since they only seem to be on the oil spot and there aren't too many...

Being that it's oil, it's unlikey to "dry up" at all-oil repels water, so there likely isn't water present in the first place. Better to wait for a molt or try to wick it up. I'd wait for a molt if I was in the same position.

Yeah that's what I thought about too therefore the reason to dropping humidity for a week or two. But i'm not optimistic to it drying off either. I'm finger's crossed that she'll molt soon...

As far as getting the oil off goes, baking soda or corn starch will absorb it, if you can find a way of getting it on and off of her safely. Since it's so humid in there, it's not likely that the mess will just dry up any time soon.

Thanks for the tip! I guess i'll try getting one of those on her. Brushing it on and off shouldn't be too hard but lately, all of the bothering and dabbing with oil that I have done, even though it worked, totally stressed her out and she is twice prone to throw a threat pose now as she was before. She even kicked at me for the first time! That's sorta tells off how often I disturb my T's Guess i'll take a try at it though. I'll hope she dosen't give me too much trouble...

 

[Jester]

Thanks for the tip! I guess i'll try getting one of those on her. Brushing it on and off shouldn't be too hard but lately, all of the bothering and dabbing with oil that I have done, even though it worked, totally stressed her out and she is twice prone to throw a threat pose now as she was before. She even kicked at me for the first time! That's sorta tells off how often I disturb my T's Guess i'll take a try at it though. I'll hope she dosen't give me too much trouble...

It won't get all of it off, but I looked into it and it seems those are the only two things that I wouldn't be too wary of using, everything else seems to have harsh chemicals in it, but I'm guessing it'd tame it to the point where it wouldn't be a risk factor any more. Since she's so prone to defensive behavior right now, I'd definitely wait a few weeks before trying anything else. Since you've had such a good track record with her, I'm sure she'll go back to being her usual self once she realizes she doesn't have anything to worry about.

 

[synyster]

It won't get all of it off, but I looked into it and it seems those are the only two things that I wouldn't be too wary of using, everything else seems to have harsh chemicals in it, but I'm guessing it'd tame it to the point where it wouldn't be a risk factor any more. Since she's so prone to defensive behavior right now, I'd definitely wait a few weeks before trying anything else. Since you've had such a good track record with her, I'm sure she'll go back to being her usual self once she realizes she doesn't have anything to worry about.

I agree corn starch is often used to stop a small wound from bleeding so that should be fine. Of course i'm gonna have to let her calm down before though, but nevertheless, she has always been a really defensive T ever since passing the 4" mark. And with all of the handling, temperature changes and humidity changes i've done this past month, I might even just let her molt it out if I can. I've been lucky enough that when she kicked at me, she created a very small bald patch but just enough for me to see the color change so i'll be able to gauge on that since her favorite position to be is partially hiding under the side of the cork bark while alway's showing her ars off Hope i'll see the color shift soon enough...

 

[synyster]

Ok well when I woke up today and went to take a look on her condition, I saw that the bugs have doubled and even tripled in size. They are now clearly noticeable. I'm hoping that they are harmless and that the reason for the outstanding growth is because they are consuming the oil. I managed to take pictures and even though they are not detailed, i'm hoping someone can identify what they are from the shape and color.

First pic is with no lighting.

Second is with an LED light added

I have circled in red some of the bugs

Now if anyone has an idea of what they are, I invite you to tell me!

 

[Formerphobe]

Are they clean up mites that happened to find something on the T to clean up? I've had mites in a couple of enclosures that never got on the tarantulas or scorpions, but they didn't have olive oil on them either.

Would application of corn starch or baking soda result in a paste?

Has she pooped more?

 

[Fran]

I wouldnt recommend putting ANYTHING ELSE on her...

(Give me a call if you want , or let me know when can I call u)